The invention relates to a passenger car body end wall that extends perpendicularly to the direction of vehicle travel, which preferably bounds the engine space, and comprises a frame system having an upper transverse member and a lower transverse member that is attached to fender walls and longitudinal supports of the car body.
In a known body end wall (British Pat. No. 853,432), transverse members are arranged on lateral vertical posts and attached to the fender walls. In this structure, lower transverse supports and longitudinal supports of the fender walls are located approximately at the same height, so that the functional arrangement of the bumper and/or unit mounts (for the engine, wheel steering members, etc.) is not possible. In this case, the longitudinal support would extend at the level of a bumper shock damper, so that complicated heavy supporting means would have to be provided. Besides, no provisions are made in the unit mounts on the lower transverse supports to transmit loads effectively to the longitudinal supports or the fender walls.
A principal object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a lightweight passenger car body end wall which can be easily manufactured, accommodate components of the body and assemblies, and absorb loads functionally, transferring them to the fender walls or longitudinal supports.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, this object is achieved by providing a frame system which comprises upper and lower transverse members which are mounted higher and lower than said longitudinal supports, respectively, and flanged vertical metal plates joined to the transverse wall at a distance from the median longitudinal plane of the car, and the lower transverse member is connected by reinforcing elements to the longitudinal supports of the fender walls.
Principal advantages obtained from the invention are that a bumper, units such as wheel steering elements, and a preferably transversely mounted power plant can be attached to the body end wall, since the loads (braking, acceleration, torsion, bending) are satisfactorily absorbed and transmitted to the bumper walls or longitudinal supports. These conditions result from the transverse supports and their connection to the transverse wall and flanged metal plates, and from the transition between the structure and the fender walls.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a single embodiment in accordance with the present invention.